About 80
million people in North America snore, and approximately 12 million
Americans have sleep apnea. So what’s the difference, and why does it
matter?
Snoring is caused by the vibration of the soft palate and
uvula, occurring when the airway becomes obstructed during sleep.
Several things can obstruct the airway and cause you to snore, including
allergies drinking before bed, being overweight and having large
tonsils or a deviated septum.
If you snore now and then, you probably have nothing to
worry about. But chronic snoring can be a sign of sleep apnea, a more
serious sleep disorder. People with sleep apnea stop breathing in their
sleep – sometimes up to 100 hundred times an hour – for one minute or
longer. Left untreated, sleep apnea can increase your chances of serious
health conditions like high blood pressure and heart disease. At a
minimum, you may feel groggy in the morning or unable to concentrate
during the day.
The good news is sleep apnea is treatable. The two most
common ways to treat sleep apnea are continuous positive airway pressure
(CPAP) therapy, which is administered by a physician, and oral
appliance therapy, which is administered by a dentist. CPAP therapy can
be very effective for people with sleep apnea, but some find it
difficult to sleep with a mask. More people are increasingly turning to
the oral appliances administered by dentists. Oral appliances are small,
flexible devices that look like mouthguards. They increase the airway
space and reduce air velocity and soft tissue vibration (snoring) by
moving the lower jaw into a forward position. Patients who have tried
both say that oral appliances are more comfortable to wear, easier to
care for and very cost-effective.
